As Saudi Arabia snubs Pakistan on J&K, cracks appear in ties

After Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi publicly berated Saudi Arabia for failing to allow the OIC to stand with Pakistan against India on Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan was compelled to prepay a $1 billion loan to Saudi Arabia a few days ago, part of a $3.2 billion loan given in 2018.
Eyebrows were raised at what many said was temerity displayed by the Pakistan foreign minister. In a TV show, Qureshi was quoted as saying, "I am once again respectfully telling OIC that a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers is our expectation. If you cannot convene it, then Ichr("39")ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris."

Given Pakistanchr("39")s close relations with Saudi Arabia, what was he thinking? More importantly, what was Saudi Arabia trying to convey to Pakistan? The August 5 Kashmir show by Pakistan obviously did not go down as expected, except for a lot of noise and a new political map claiming J&K and Junagadh. But it was the silence of the OIC that cut deep. For months, Pakistan has been trying to convene a meeting of OIC foreign ministers in Islamabad to condemn Indiachr("39")s actions. Saudi Arabia has reportedly stood in the way, only allowing an OIC contact group meeting. Pakistan has not received any comfort from the UAE either, who have followed SaudiArabia on this.